About The Founders

Rob Berkley

About Rob Berkley

A Master Certified Coach who has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, executives, couples and corporate teams articulate their mission and strategic direction, Rob Berkley has a proven talent for facilitating personal and professional breakthroughs.

One coaching client describes Rob as a cross between Yoda, Gandhi and Perry Mason, bringing wisdom, clarity, kindness and a touch of “The Force” to his work. Others express surprise and gratitude that just one day with Rob can be so transformational.

Before founding the executive coaching company GroupMV in 2000, he served as a CEO, CIO and board director for several well-known private and public companies in the technology, banking and publishing industries, including Banker’s Trust, Simon & Schuster and Pearson.

Rob’s client list ranges from leading management consultancies, The Harvard Business School, McGraw-Hill, The TB Alliance (a Gates Foundation organization) to multiple Inc. 500/5000 organizations and a Who’s Who of top information marketers and tech entrepreneurs.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and pursued advanced education at Harvard, Stanford and INSEAD in France. His Master Certified Coach credential from the International Coach Federation puts him in the highest rank of coaches in the world.

Trained in several Asian healing arts, Rob has integrated these specialties into his work.

He co-developed and has been conducting Vision Days since 1998 in partnership with his wife, Debbie Phillips, founder of Women On Fire®, on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and Naples, Florida.

About Debbie Phillips

Debbie Phillips is the inspiring author, speaker and founder of Women on Fire®. She is known for her work transforming women’s lives.

In 1995, Debbie launched a service for leaders that previously didn’t exist but that she had wished for earlier in her career. Executive and life coaching were unheard of at the time, and she was among the first trained coaches in the world.

In 1998, she created Vision Day, the one-day strategic planning program for life and work. Working with Rob Berkley, her husband and business partner, Vision Day has continued to evolve and has helped thousands of people to live lives they dream of.

To further extend outreach for women’s success, she founded Women on Fire® in 2003, a membership organization, to connect women to each other and provides inspiration, strategies and support.

The award-winning book series Women on Fire: 20 Inspiring Women Share Their Life Secrets (and Save You Years of Struggle!) was first published in 2009 and now features two volumes. Her weekly blog The Spark reaches tens of thousands of women.

Prior to becoming a coach, Debbie was a newspaper reporter, Governor’s press secretary, and television production company executive.

An Ohio native, Debbie has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from The Ohio State University and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University.

A high point in her life each year is when her master coach husband gives her her own Vision Day!